Century-old Matheran toy train is back on track from today

The first service will depart from Matheran at 8.50am and the last service from Aman Lodge station 4.40pm

A year after it was discontinued after two consecutive derailments, Central Railway (CR) announced the Matheran mini train shuttle service between Matheran and Aman Lodge stations will resume on October 30 after successful trials were conducted on Sunday.

The British-era narrow gauge mini train, commissioned on April 15, 1907, was suspended following two back-to-back derailments on May 1 and May 8 in 2016. (HT)

The CR has planned a total of 12 services daily. The first service will depart from Matheran at 8.50am and the last service from Aman Lodge station 4.40pm. The train, which was first introduced 110 years ago, will take 25 minutes to cover a 3-km distance between the two stations.

For an adult passenger, first- and second-class fare between Matheran and Aman Lodge will cost Rs300 and Rs45 respectively and for a child it would be Rs180 and Rs30. CR said there will be three-second class coaches, one first-class coach and two coaches for guards or 4 second-class coaches and two coaches for guards on this shuttle.

The British-era narrow gauge mini train, commissioned on April 15, 1907, was suspended following two-back-to back derailments on May 1 and May 8, last year. After that, CR took several measures to improve safety before successful conducing safety trials on Sunday.

Sunil Udasi, chief spokesperson of CR, confirmed the trials to check safety and operational issues were successful.

The century old Neral-Matheran light railway was built by Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy and his son Abdul Hussain. It took seven years to build this 21-km long narrow gauge line, once after Peerbhoy got permission of survey it in July 1901. In 2005, Neral-Matheran light railway was added in the UNESCO’s tentative heritage list. The line was washed away at many locations in July 2007 deluge. It took more than two years for railways to restore it that time.

CR had introduced Matheran-Aman Lodge shuttle service station mainly for the convenience of the passengers as they had to either walk or hire horse paying high amount for reaching Matheran from Dasturi Naka, beyond which the vehicular movement is restricted at the hill station.